A/N: special thanks to Maglenan Princess for typing these for me over Christmas break! I gave her my notebook and asked her to type them up for me, and she did! LOVE YA, SAM!! Thanks to everyone for your patience, Sam finally got around to typing these for me. Remember when I said I was ending it soon? Well... I lied. I'm at chapter 30 in my notebook with no sign of stopping!

Typed by Maglenan Princess for Jade- Have a 'Rhade-y' Christmas (Hey, megz, for the champagne, instead of writing champagne over and over-could I use a brand name?) no, that is NOT ok, but don't worry, I'll change it! Note: anywhere it says some weird name that sounds Italian or something, it's Sam's way of saying champagne and I probably missed it while I was typing.

vampiregirl081: :blushes: oh, no really, I'm nothing special. :scrapes toe against ground: thanks so much!

prin69: nope, no sequel in sight, but plenty more EotP! Hey, don't worry about it, I was too lazy to stand in line for patience, too!

Maglenan Princess: and here we go yet again with the Phantom! does he never go away?

Anastashia: :scratches head: eh? I think I kinda get what you're trying to say, but I'm easily confused. could you try to explain that again... wait, never mind, halfway through typing this review, I suddenly got it! thanks so much, keep reviewing please? you'll correct me if I make another mistake like that, right?

Iara: k, I feel all caught up! I e-mailed u and uploaded! WAH, have to go back to skool tomorrow!

eris: see ya then!

Vee017: oh, Rhade-shaped cookie! YUM! :acts like Cookie Monster from Sesame Street: ME WANT COOKIE!!k, sorry 'bout that... anyhow, Jade explains the whole Atlanta vs. Jade thing in this chapter. I'm so happy you like my Ocs!! I know a lot of peeps don't like Ocs, but try and stop me, I do them anyhow! glad you like Jade and Achilles!

Jamieson Z: how'd you do on your exams? so happy you've finally got a break!

Chapter 24

"This is amazing, Achilles," Cynthia announced as the mentioned Nietzschean lead the pilots on a tour of Kadon Base.

"Thank you," Achilles responded, smiling at the Earther female. "These are the guest quarters," he indicated widely spaced doors along the hallway they had been walking down. "I've already had an android fill the closets in each with fresh clothes if you want to shower and get changed."

A ragged cheer burst from the pilots and Achilles told each of them which room theirs were.

Jade entered hers and closed the door behind her. It was a beautiful room; wide and spacious with a large king size bed, a walk-in closet, and a red marble bathroom-complete with matching marble hot tub. There were priceless works of art hanging on the walls, and on sudden impulse Jade reached down and unbuckled her boots and removed her socks. She walked around the room, taking luxury in the feel of the red carpet between her toes.

She flipped a few switches on the wall next to the hot tub, soon filling it with steamy, bubbly water.

Almost an hour later, Jade finally convinced herself to get out of the hot tub; realizing that the last time she'd felt this pampered was back when she had been living at home.

In the large, artificial wood armoire, Jade found an array of neatly hung clothes and a flexi. The flexi was a note from Achilles, saying dinner would be at twenty-hundred hours in the Observation room, dress was formal. There was a postscript at the bottom; 'Jade, "formal" means no leather'.

Jade checked the wall chrono, noting that she had more than an hour to get ready as she brushed her long brown hair. "What to wear, what to wear," she muttered shifting through the hangers in the closet. Regretfully she passed the black leather. "Maybe this," she selected a filmy purple gown and laid it on the bed. Jade bit her lip. "Or maybe this…" Damn, she'd never gotten to pick out expensive clothes for dinner before, and it was fun! When she'd go on dates with people from the Academy, she'd only been able to afford one nice dress.

Finally Jade had to make a final decision between a low-cut red gown or a slim, low-cut black gown with a slit running from the bottom up her thigh allowing freedom of movement. "Black," she finally decided, carefully putting the red one back in the closet.

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Jade had once seen a holo of Andromeda's Observation Deck, but that was nothing compared to Achilles' Obs Room. Fully, half the large room was covered in viewscreens projecting the image of outer space. There was a round table set in the center, with places for nine people.

"Jade, you look stunning, as always," Achilles greeted, walked over to bow and kiss her hand.

"You like old-school, huh?"

Achilles shrugged. "Something different," he explained.

"He's completely crazy," Corrin announced, walking in behind Jade. "Believes in 'honor' and 'duty'."

Jade raised an eyebrow. "A Nietzschean thinking about honor?"

"Kinda like you, then, huh, Jade?" Cynthia walked in, looking dazzling in a dark blue dress.

Jade flushed a little. "Sometimes," she admitted. "Though, that's not something most Nietzscheans are proud of. You know who you remind me of, Achilles?" Jade asked as the rest of the pilots filtered into the room and sat down. An android began serving some kind of poultry marinated in butter.

"Who would that be?" Achilles asked.

"My brother, Telemachus Rhade."

"Your brother is Telemachus Rhade?" Nuria gaped, nearly knocking over her champagne flute. Clear Running Water saved it from spilling champagne everywhere.

"That's who I was talking to over the radio, yes." Jade looked amused.

"I've always wanted to meet Telemachus Rhade," Xena mused. "I've heard he's extraordinarily attractive."

" 'Extraordinary' doesn't even begin to cover it!" Nuria announced. "He's got dark hair, deep, brown eyes-"

"You do remember that you're talking about my brother, right?"

Nuria's face fell. "Oh, yeah."

"What, drooling over Rhade isn't allowed in the presence of his sister-?" Cynthia asked sarcastically.

Jade groaned, "Not you too!"

"Wow, I want to be this Rhade-guy," Corrin noted. "Wish I could have three chicks talk 'bout me like that!"

"Moving on," Giani said. "What are we to call you? Jade, or Atlanta?"

Jade hesitated, putting down her champagne flute. "Atlanta Rhade was a spoiled child," she announced. "I am not the girl I used to be, and I don't see why I should change my name again now."

"So why didn't you ever tell me who you were?" Nuria asked.

Jade groaned. "If I keep answering questions about me, then the rest of you have to tell your stories as well."

"Deal," Winter said.

"Obviously, I was raise as Atlanta Rhade," Jade said. "I was happy, my brother had a beautiful wife-"

"He's married?" Cynthia asked, face falling.

Jade groaned again. "I'm getting there! Telemachus's wife's name was Nefatari, and the one day she took me and her children up to see the orbital station she worked at.

"Pirates came, and I was separated from Nefatari and the children by a pile of wreckage. I would have to find my own way off since the escape pods were cut off from me. I snuck around inside the ventilation ducts until I reached the hangar. Almost all the ships were gone, with the exception of one slip fighter whose pilot had been killed.

"I had no choice. I got in and activated the fighter's control systems. Nefatari had shown me how earlier," Jade added seeing the questioning looks. "Not long after I took off, I was hit by a laser blast from the pirates' ship, and I crash-landed in the middle of a forest. Then I was raised by magical gnomes and a man named Bob the Mexican." (Don't ask, Gate of Heaven Skool thing)

Winter, who had just taken a sip of the champagne, snorted into the flute.

"Just kidding," Jade flashed a smile. "Actually, I made a living as a thief on one of Terazed's larger cities."

"Sounds adventurous," Corrin said, pushing his plate away.

"It's not what it's cracked up to be," Jade told him. "I've been shot at, assaulted, curse, and," her voice nearly broke, "raped. But I was strong, and I survived until I was old enough to enter the Academy."

"Jade, I'm so sorry-" Cynthia started.

"Don't be," Jade said, her voice almost normal again. "It's over, I made it. End of story."

"Why did you not go back?" Xena asked. "You could have spared yourself from that terrible living by simply returning home to your family."

"Despite the hardships, and there were many, I enjoyed unrestricted freedom. As I got older and more terrible things happened to me, I could not go back. I could not bring myself to reveal to my family the things I had stooped to."

Xena and Cynthia nodded in understanding.

Jade smiled. "Your turn," she told the others at the table.

"My story is unremarkable," Winter announced. "I basically jumped from job to job as a mechanic and AI programmer on my home world."

"I'm the daughter of a Nietzschean pilot, Tallis," Nuria said. "My mother was Sierra, one of the crewmembers on his cargo ship. Sierra chose Tallis, becoming his first female. I was born on Rarklash, a small moon in the Triangulum Galaxy. Their cargo ship was destroyed not long after, leaving me to be raised by humans who only knew my mother and father's first names, and my name. Eventually I gained passage to Terezed."

"I'm from Mobius," Clear Running Water said. "Don't really have much more than that."

"One question," Xena said. "Why is your call sign 'Tuna'?"

Clear Running Water chatted with amusement. "Kaysea Alantra had once asked me why all Than names have five syllables. When I explained it to her, she wanted to know whether a Than's name could be: 'Loves To Eat Tuna'. The name stuck."

The rest of the table laughed.

"Obviously, I'm a Perseid," Giani said. "From Sinti: Information archiving wasn't my thing, so I left."

"I had formerly worked for hire," Xena announced. "After assassinating an important Nietzschean Alpha to escape retribution, I joined the Academy."

"Savion was too low-tech for me," Corrin said. "So I decided to become the first space pilot from Savion."

"I was a slave in Boston when Seamus Zelazney Harper and Andromeda's android Rommie initiated the slave revolt," Cynthia said softly. "During the confusion, I was able to steal a ship and sneak off world."

"My parents ran a thieving ring," Achilles said. " When a client was delivered a fake piece of artwork, he took revenge and killed my father and his three wives."

"Oops," Cynthia muttered.

"Well, that completes our little band," Giani said as an android took away their plates and placed some sort of white, fluffy cake in front of them. "What will the name of our squadron be?"

"Delta," Jade said immediately.

"Alpha," Corrin replied at the same time.

"How about an actual name instead of Greek letters?" Nuria suggested.

"Cake squadron?" Tuna said, lifting a forkful of the white cake.

"Not funny, Tuna," Jade replied.

"Death squadron?" Achilles suggested.

"Black squadron?"

"Ghost squadron?"

"Monkey squadron?"

"NO, Tuna!"

"Exile squadron?" a soft voice asked. Winter looked at the others.

"That's good," Corrin said. "I have no objection to being called that."

Jade raised her champagne flute in a toast. "To Exile Squadron, and to the ones who died allowing us to live: Kaysea Alantra, Shauna Du'lakar, Infinity Trigan, Lars Farseer, and Emmy Baut."

"To Exile Squadron," the others echoed.

A/N: Be patient, we return to the Andromeda soon!